The Fourth of July arrives later this week, and echoes are heard across the land: This is not the America we once knew.
The America we once knew held up a sign on its front door: “Give us your tired, your poor …” That America didn’t bully innocent immigrants, didn’t separate children from their families, didn’t boast of its policies of cruelty.
The America we once knew didn’t stab its historic allies in the back. We embraced them. And in return, we knew they embraced us back, and this made all of us stronger.
The America we once knew loathed the idea of a mad king as ruler. And we imagined a Supreme Court that understood this and never would have granted unlimited powers which now threaten the country as never before.
The America we once knew stood up to bullies. We didn’t hold back our aid as a man like Russia’s Putin invaded Ukraine and then forced that invaded nation to beg for arms to defend itself.
The America we once knew didn’t propose cuts in health insurance where nearly 12 million needy citizens will become uninsured in the next decade — while a heartless White House simultaneously proposes massive tax cuts for the super wealthy.
The America we knew didn’t cut foreign aid for the world’s most desperate. We were the great protector of all those who had nowhere else to turn.
The America we knew had elected officials who would have laughed at the hacks this president has put into the Department of Justice and the FBI and so many of the most sensitive positions. We used to have a phrase for cabinet members: the best and the brightest. Now we call them an embarrassment to the nation.
The America we once knew fed the hungry, including those who’d been our worst enemies. Does anyone in Washington remember something called the Marshall Plan? Now we take food from the mouths of children.
The America we once knew didn’t declare war against our great universities. And we didn’t cut funding to fight deadly diseases. We valued the life of the mind. We amazed the world with our scientific breakthroughs. And we did this by engaging the brightest minds from all over the world and welcomed them to our universities and our laboratories.
The America we once knew didn’t stigmatize those people as “immigrants” or “criminals.” We called them students. We called them scientists. If we got lucky, they stuck around, and we called them “Americans.”
A former Baltimore Sun columnist and WJZ-TV commentator, Michael Olesker is the author of six books, including “Journeys to the Heart of Baltimore” (Johns Hopkins University Press) and “Michael Olesker’s Baltimore: If You Live Here, You’re Home” (Johns Hopkins University).
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